Returned
by Alexa2020
Summary: 6 years have passed. 6 years since she had seen her so called team. 6 years since she was abandoned without even a second thought from the boys. Now the members of team 7 have returned and everything has changed. Can they handle the new Sakura?
1. Chapter 1

6 years. 6 years since she had seen her so called team. 6 years since she was abandoned without even a second thought from the boys. She still remembered the day she awoke to a note on the pillow next to her head.

 _Flashback_

 _Sakura,_

 _Jiraiya and I are taking Sasuke and Naruto for some much needed training. Not sure when we will be back. Keep going over the basics and you will be fine._

 _Kakashi_

 _At first she was angry. Angry at her team for leaving and not even letting her say good bye. After the anger came the the hurt and pain. Her team didn't thing she was strong enough or important enough to train with them. She had just lost her parents to the invasion and her team up and disappeared; she had no one to turn to. That was until she had to leave her home to find food after running out of everything her cabinets._

 _It was raining that day, dark clouds overhead rolling in the sky. She had forgone an umbrella and opted for a jacket with a hood. Not that it was doing much good seeing as she was getting soaked to the bone anyway. Walking along the street, the wind howled behind her knocking her to the ground. That's where he found her, and that was the day her life changed._

 _End of flash back_

Early dawn peaked over the main gates of the village; the two guards on duty looked up to see 4 people that hadn't been seen or heard from in a very long time. As the figures approached they noticed the once small scrawny boys now had turned into fine young men. Having filled out their muscles from vigorous years of training.

"Well what do you know. Look what the cat drug in" Kotetsu mocked. As much as we would like to let you in, we are under orders to keep you here."

The silver haired man raised his one lone eyebrow, "and why would that be? We are just returning home after a very tiring mission."

"Mission my ass" Izumo muttered.

"Orders are orders, you will have to wait till your escort gets here." Kotetsu said angered that the silver hair ninja thought he still had rank.

"Well then we will wait for our welcome party to arrive then," the older white haired man tried to pacify the tension.

"Hey you gotta problem with Kakashi Sensei?" The loud mouth blond said stepping up to him.

"Yeah I got a problem with anyone that just leaves someone hangin to fend for themselves." Kotetsu spat back at the blond.

"Now wait just a minuet. What are you even talking about he didn't leave anybody."

"Not just him, all of you. You all left Sak—" Kotetsu was getting worked up, but was cut off by Anbu appearing before them.

"The hokage wishes to see all of you. Due to the fact that you left without proper permission you will be escorted into the village." The Anbu member said stepping forward.

Throwing a glare over his shoulder the Uchiha grabbed the collar, and drug him in the direction the Anbu were leading. A four man squad was sent to retrieve them two of them leading the way with the other two bringing up the rear. Any move the shinobi made would be known in an instant.

Kakashi frowned, he wasn't expecting a party to be thrown when they returned, but at least someone to be happy to see them. Even the Anbu he knew that was escorting them was giving off a slight killing intent toward him. If he search hard enough he could even feel it coming from the smaller Anbu in front. He was the smallest of the group with a cat mask. _Must be a newer recruit,_ he thought not recognizing the persons smell.

Racing fast through the city, they reached the tower in no time. The two groups stood outside the Hokage's office, waiting for permission to enter. Nothing was said for a moment then two guards opened the doors. Walking in Jiraiya noticed two things right away, the Hokage had no sake on her desk and was extremely angry.

His former teammate stared the men up and down. "Well do you have anything to say for yourselves?" She demanded in a deathly calm voice.

"Umm Granny... We are back and thought you would be happy to see us. Aren't you happy we're back?" Naruto ask nervously.

"Happy.." She related, "am I happy you are back? YOU LEFT THE VILLAGE WITHOUT PERMISSION. YOU LEAVE WITHOUT NOTICE OTHER THAN A BULL SHIT NOTE TO YOUR FORMER TEAM MATE AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BE HAPPY!"

"Isn't that bit harsh baa-chan? We were just training." Naruto whined.

"No it's not harsh! Do you have any idea what I had to do to keep you from being labeled as a missing nin? No, no you don't know because you haven't bothered to contact me at all regarding your status or location."

"Well if you really wanted to contact us you should have sent Anbu to track us." Jiraiya told her matter of factly.

"I know it was dark when you came through the village but did any of you even look around? We have been getting random attacks and I don't have the man power to spare to hunt your stupid asses down!" She yelled slamming her fist into her desk causing it to crack down the middle. She push her chair away from her desk and turned her back to them. Looking out the large window toward the city, she sighed.

"At the moment I cannot deal with you. Until further notice you will be monitored around the clock by an Anbu team. Since you four have had 6 years to be familiar with one another and we are running short on individual housing, you will be living together until further notice." Before any of them could object, another guard appeared at her side. "You will be needing physicals before you can join the general populous of the village. Fish will take you to the waiting room."

With that they were ushered out the door toward another room, where they were expected to wait like good little ninja.

000

Sakura was sure she was shaking under her cloak. Even after years of training to suppress emotions she could feel the anger trying to make its way out. Behind her mask she eyed her previous team figures' up and down; tuning out what her mentor was telling them. The boys had definitely grown taller. Sasuke's ever lean form was now padded with muscles. Naruto was no longer the short shrimp of the group, now towering over Sasuke; almost eye to eye with Kakashi.

She could feel her captain's killing intent still lingering in the room. Sakura thought her teacher would have thrown him a look to calm himself, but it was obviously part of the plan to get them to realize how serious this situation was. Looking around the room she noticed a set of lazy eyes behind the white mask. Silently asking if she was ok. She released the Genjutsu, quickly putting it back up so he could see her green eyes for just a moment. He blinked back at her signaling he understood. The moment her team was sent out she had placed low level Genjutsu on her eyes to change them to brown.

She didn't want her old team to know she was part of the group that was sent to the gates. Her signature red scarf was placed on her head under the hood of the cloak to conceal her bubblegum hair. She could feel both her captain and vice captain's eyes focused on the back of her head. It was sweet how much her Anbu team cared for her; they were her rock. She felt like anything was possible with them at her side.

Seeing her mentor crack her desk _again,_ her attention was snapped back to the scene in front of her. Fish and appeared and was told to move the returned ninja to a waiting exam room. What surprised her was that Naruto didn't even object to being almost thrown out. He just hung his head and his shoulders slumped slightly in defeat. When the hokage's office door closed there was a moment of silence.

"Captain, seal the room please." She whispered. Yamato did and moved to stand in front of his team.

"I know this is a situation we have discussed in the past. What we decided years ago will still be in place. Until further notice you will be watching and guarding those four men. We can't let them out of the village, but they also can't be let off with a clean slate either. I will determine their full punishment after updating the council of their return. Until then they will be helping with the rebuilding efforts. They may walk around during the day but each one of them must have someone on your team with them at all times."

Sakura took a breath. What they had discussed, was fine before when they were not in the village and did not seem like they would return. But now, she wasn't so confident. She didn't want her old team trying to rock the boat with her new team. The days of team seven was over the moment they had left in the first place.

"So they will be moving in with your team in a few more days after they have been cleared by the medical staff. They will be undergoing physical and mental evaluation before they are allowed to walk around freely. Are there any objections to this arrangement?" The lighted haired woman looked to her student.

Sakura felt like she was almost asking her to object, so that their team would not have to do the assignment. With the current arrangement of her old team and her Anbu team living together meant they would be grounded. No other missions and no going outside the gates anytime soon; glorified babysitters. But if she said no, they wouldn't be living with them they would be put in holding cells and they would still have to guard them round the clock. They were stuck between and a rock and a hard place. Neither option was her favorite but if she took the first then she wouldn't have to go down to the T&I cells everyday. There was no other team that could take this assignment either. Their team was created for situations like this. Making her mind up She shook her head no.

"Alright then. I trust you all to make the proper arrangements. Dismissed." She said, the authority in her voice never leaving. With no sound, the four man squad vanished leaving only one lone flower petal in their place.

 _Please give Sakura the strength to get through this_ , the hokage prayed.

000

Sakura was the last to return home, having gone for a walk to clear her head. She arrived at the door and paused. She felt all three men there in the kitchen. They must have been waiting for her. She smiled at the thought that they wouldn't do anything without consulting her first. Her boys really were the best she could ask for.

Still holding the small smile on her face she unlocked the door to their house. Closing the door behind her she bent down to take her boots off leaving them by the door with the others. She was shedding clothes as she walked through the house to the kitchen. Throwing her cloak and gear on the ground without a second thought. She found her boys, well men, sitting around the table looking up as she entered.

"You ok?" Genma asked softly. She nodded moving to sit in her captain's lap rather than her own chair. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. He moved to accommodate her placing one of his hands on her hip and the other on the small of her back.

"I'm fine. Just tired... it's been a long day. We just got back from our last mission and now all this." The pink haired woman sighed.

"We will get through this. Just one day at a time. A mission is still a mission and we have to complete ours. It may not be to our liking but, we have to face it." Yamato stated kissing her forehead.

"So what the plan then. Not tell them who we are? Keep our mask on all the time? Not able to get comfortable and unwind in our own home?" The genius of the group questioned sourly. Sakura reached out to take one of his hands and began rubbing circles on the back of it. Genma picked her feet up hanging off the side of Yamato leg and began to rub her feet and legs.

Resuming his role as captain and head of their little family Yamato answered him. "We will keep our identity hidden per normal protocol. If they figure it out we will deal with it then. Two of us will give up our rooms and will bunk in the other two rooms and one on the couch. We can rotate who sleeps in a bed and who gets the couch. Since Sakura's room is the largest she is keeping hers. Since my room is second largest I will keep mine. Shikamaru you and Genma will give up your rooms since they have the least amount of personal items in them."

"Starting tomorrow we will begin going over a rotation schedule. Sakura will be working only part time as a medic and the Hokage has moved her to working with Anbu and emergencies only during this time. This way you won't be caught without one of us with team 7 back in the village."

"You know I don't need a babysitter right?" Sakura grumbled.

"Sweetheart we are well aware that you can take care of your self. But your old team doesn't know that, and we don't want them trying to take advantage of you," Genma said seriously. _We don't want them taking you away from us_ , was the message hidden behind it.

Sakura pouted. She loved her team but sometimes they would get a little over protected. Standing up she turned to leave the room, "Well if it's settled I am going to take a bath."

Not one of the 3 men said anything until the heard the water running on the other side of the house.

"She's taking this better than I thought." Yamato mused. He was proud of their girl. She wasn't letting her feelings about her old team destroy her. She really had grown quite a lot since they became a team.

"She's putting on a brave front. But she's still hurting." Shikamaru said a hint of anger in his tone. "Why did they have to come back? Right after she started doing so much better."

Yamoto looked at the younger man. "We will keep her safe, as we have done. She won't change because their back. She won't be that sad little girl you picked up in the rain." The promise in his voice left no room for ifs, ands, or buts. Both Genma and Shikamaru nodded, the later standing to leave.

"I'm staying with her tonight."

000

Inside the bathroom Sakura looked at her appearance. She had grown into a woman over the years. She may not be as well endowed as some others, but her team had said on more than one occasion she was beautiful. Even when they had seen her at her worst. She wonder how Naruto or Sasuke would react to seeing her. Would they think she was a good looking woman? Or would they think she was still the pathetic little girl they left behind?

Sakura decided right then to end her train of thoughts about her old team. _It doesn't matter what they think anymore. I am in a committed relationship._ Shaking her head she got into her bath. Sliding down till only her head was above the water, she let a few tears leak out of her eyes. Crying for a few minutes longer she dunked her head under the water. She stayed under until her lungs screamed at her for air. Gasping she sat up, and reached for the soap to clean herself. If she concentrated she could here the others talking. But she didn't want to listen and instead focused on her task of getting clean.

She stop scrubbing before her skin turned raw. Getting out she rubbed her hair dry and wrapped a towel around her body. She brushed her teeth and applied her lotion then opened the door that led to her bedroom. Being the only girl had its perks and this was one of them. She got one of the rooms with her own connecting bathroom. Yamato got the other one, while Genma and Shikamaru shared the hall bath, not that either of them minded.

First thing she notice was that the only light in the room was coming from her bedside lamp. On the far side of the bed closest to the door was Shikamaru. He was sitting on the edge of her bed with his back to her. He had removed his dirty clothes and was clad in his black pants. She couldn't help but admire the muscles in his back. For being such a lazy Shinobi he sure did have quite the body. Lean and able to move quickly but not too skinny.

He didn't look up as she crawled on the bed behind him. Putting her chest flush against his back she looped her arms around his neck and brought her mouth down to his collarbone. He hummed in agreement when she kissed his skin.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked him softly.

"You."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. How many days has it been since we have had some time to ourselves?"

"Well with you giving up your room you could move in here permanently." She suggested.

"The others may get jealous." He was thinking to rationally again. _He really needs to let go of some of this tension._

She started moving her hands up and down his chest; slowly dragging them across his skin. She moved her head to kiss behind his ear. He secretly loved when she did that to him, even though he tried his best to hide it. He allowed this to continue for a few moments letting her pet and kiss his body before he decided to take over. As fast as his anbu training had given him, he turned around, removed her towel, and had crawled on top of her. Planting kisses down her neck to the top of her breast. _You know for such a lazy man he is rather dominate in the bedroom_ was the last coherent thought she had before she was pulled it to the deep abyss of their love making.

0000

Thanks for reading and please leave a review! Do you think I should continue? Who would you like to see Sakura paired up with? Shikamaru? Genma? Yamato? Maybe all three? Any and all reviews are appreciated! Will post more chapters if you guys are enjoying it!


	2. Chapter 2

7 of 7

Morning came far too early for Sakura's liking. Thanks to Shikamaru, releasing his pent up tension, she has slept soundly and free of nightmares. Peaking her eyes open, she looked straight into her male companion's chest. Closing her eyes she hugged him closer, breathing in his scent. He smelled like trees and fresh cut grass; probably because he spent so much time lounging on the ground looking up at the clouds. Sakura smiled, Shikamaru had a way about him that made her not care so much about anything outside her bedroom.

Opening her eyes again she looked up at his handsome face. Carefully removing her arms that were trapped against his chest, she ran her fingers through his soft brown hair. She loved it when he took his hair down. A lot of men couldn't pull off the long haired look but Shikamaru could.

He didn't open his eyes but moved his face to her neck, giving her better access to his hair. Shikamaru playfully nuzzled his head and nipped her neck.

"You know we have to get up and start the day right?" She asked.

"We could, or we could stay in bed all day. The others wouldn't mind."

"No we can't. We have work to do, remember, and I doubt they will be thrilled that we didn't help."

Shikamaru snorted, "They could join us. We haven't had a lazy day with all of us in a long time. Always away on missions."

Sakura yanked his hair back so she could look at his face. "We have to get up because we have lunch with your parents remember?" Meeting with his parents usually turned out to be an eventful day. Sure they loved Sakura but their relationship with the others was confusing to his parents. When she first started seeing Shikamaru they were so excited to see their lazily son interested in something other than clouds. But when they had introduced their team... Well that one took a lot of explaining. The heads of the Nara family didn't understand their son's arrangement with the others on their team.

Groaning Sakura sat up. Looking at the mirror across from her bed she could see her hair sticking out in every direction. Brushing her fingers through her hair trying to make it somewhat presentable she heard a soft snore behind her.

 _That jerk! He went back to sleep_! Quietly Sakura moved to the end of the bed. Crouching down by his feet, she pulled the covers back just enough to show one foot. Collecting a small amount of charka onto the tip of her finger she flicked the arch of his foot. Shikamaru jolted and sat up breathing heavily with now wide awake eyes. Giggling softly Sakura had already made it to her bathroom to begin getting ready for the day as she heard a string of curses leave his lips.

0000000

After getting dressed and doing her morning routine she made her way down the stairs of her home. With all of her team being on an anbu squad, and taking high ranking missions they were able to afford a much larger home than some others in the village. She wondered why other Shinobi didn't live together to save money. But she reasoned not every team could stand being together twenty four hours a day, plus on all missions like her team could.

Walking into the kitchen she noticed that Yamato was the only one up. Even though she had woken Shikamaru, it would be a least another 30 minutes before he would even begin to get ready. Yamato was standing at the stove preparing breakfast. Walking up behind him she wrapped her slender arms around his waist breathing in his cooking. Considering before their team he was eating rations and wildlife while on solo or a duo missions, she though his cooking was pretty good. Well anytime she didn't have to cook she tried not to complain about the dish.

"Smells good. Did you make enough to share?" She questioned flirtatiously.

"Of course, I always make enough to share with my favorite girl."

Sakura laughed, "I'd better be your only girl, captain."

Putting down the spoon he was using to stir, he turned around and placed one hand on her hip and the other under her chin; tilting her head to look at him. He looked so more casual and at home without his normal head gear on. If you didn't know him that well you wouldn't be able to recognize him. He moved his head down to bring her into a kiss, she was expecting a soft and sweet kiss but this morning was full of passion. His lips were hard and firm against her soft ones. Wanting to deepen the kiss she allowed him entrance when his tongue tapped against her bottom lip. She waited as long as she could, letting him explore her mouth and moaned when she needed air. Panting and struggling to remember to breathe he moved to her neck placing hot wet kisses. Moving his other hand onto her hip, then down her leg he hitched the leg over his hip.

Catching onto what he wanted she jumped to wrap her other leg around his waist. As she did this Yamato never broke contact with her neck. Sakura was lost in heaven. There were certain things about each of her boys that they could do to her like no one else could. Yamato was currently showing her his talents with his lips. She noticed that he had moved them when he placed her on the counter in the kitchen. Since she was much shorter than he was, this made his access much easier.

After he determined she had enough air he brought his lips back to hers, while keeping his hands on the counter by her hips. Leaning her chest toward his, she wrapped her arms around him and dug her fingers into his hair.

Still breathing heavily she said to him, "As much as I would like to continue this, I am hungry and we have a busy day ahead of us."

"I know but just a few minutes won't hurt anything."

"With you it's never just a few minutes. Besides if you burn my breakfast, I am going to be _pissed_." She countered.

Taking the not so subtle hint, Yamato gave her one last kiss before removing himself from her to resume making breakfast. Soothing out her hair, Sakura move to make them some tea for the morning. After heating the pot and filling the cups she met him at the table. There she was greeted with a very nice omelet with some fruit on the side. She had never told him that this was her favorite breakfast he made, but he always seemed to know when she needed it.

All of her boys were very in tune to her likes and dislikes. If she was working at the hospital late and wouldn't be home in time for dinner; one of them, usually Genma, would show up with food. Or if she was having a bad day and was doubting herself, they would treat her to dango. Those days were only a few times a year and usually around her former teammates' departure date. Her boys would do everything they could to distract her. Last year they took a trip to a spa. While she knew it wouldn't be the boys' thing, they graciously went with her. Taking the first bite of her omelet, Sakura looked at Yamato and gave him a thumbs up.

"Sakura," the way he said her name she knew right away what he wanted. He only used that tone of voice when it came to talking about her other team. Yamato was the only one out of the boys she choose to talk to about it. He just seem to know the right things to say. Don't get her wrong, Shikamaru and Genma were great when she was upset. But they got pretty angry whenever she talked about the team that had abandoned her. Yamato on the other hand, no matter what he was feeling, she could never tell when he was upset. Sakura thought she understood Yamato pretty well but there were somethings that she may never know about him.

"Are you really sure you are ok with them being here? Lady Hokage did say she could have another team take this assignment."

"Yes I am sure. If I wanted another team to take this then I would have said something last night. We are the best suited for this and if they refuse anything I want dibs on being an extra hard ass on them."

Looking her in the eye to see if she was lying, Yamato found nothing but the truth. "Well if you are sure."

Sighing, "Yes I am sure. However it is your job to make sure to keep Shikamaru and Genma in check. Also when we are done with this mission we are going on a vacation, the beach would be nice don't you think?" Sakura suspected Yamato understood she wanted to change the subject. Six years was a lot of time to get over the initial grief but the wound was still there that she rather not open.

Finishing her omelet and fruit she did the dishes since he did the cooking. It was the least she could do for receiving one of her favorite meals. Hearing Genma coming into the kitchen, she placed her last dish on the drying rack. Sakura turned to find him still in his normal clothes, which wasn't unlike his jounin uniform. Standard green shirt, without the vest, and black pants. He had no shoes on his feet but his headband was already in place.

"Did you save anything for me?" Genma asked.

Shaking her head, "Nope I ate all of it. Maybe you can sweet talk Yamato into making you breakfast." She smiled sweetly at him. Yamato who had not gotten up from the table told him to get his out of the oven and to save some for Shikamaru. Grunting Genma grabbed his and made his way to the table.

"I am going to make sure that lazy man is getting ready. Sometimes I wonder if I am his mother," she said mumbling the last part. Both men laughed at her, she may complain but she secretly liked taking care of them in her own way. Sure they did a lot for her, but they each felt that Sakura did so much more for them.

00000

Returning to her room Sakura was glad to see that Shikamaru was dressed. Since her old team was not let to walk around yet, she wanted to get some time in being about in her normal clothes. Her first stop was to go to the Nara compound to assist Shikamaru with his duties, eat lunch with them, and maybe do some light shopping. Since they were on a long mission they had very few food items to eat. She wasn't really sure where Yamato had gotten breakfast from, but she didn't really care. She also needed to stalk up on medical supplies, as she did regularly, and get some new gear. Some of hers were burned or torn and needed to be replaced.

Moving to make her bed she said, "Good your up. Yamato has breakfast for you in the kitchen. I would hurry before Genma eats your share."

Shikamaru smirked at her, "If he does I'll just have mom make me something and you can enjoy her cooking before lunch too." In response she threw her pillow at him which earned a chuckle from both of them. They both headed to the front door of their home stopping to put on their sandals.

"We are going to the Nara's for the morning and then to eat lunch. I am going shopping afterward." She announced knowing the other two would hear her.

"Ok I'll pick you up after lunch," Genma answered.

"I don't need a babysitter!"

"I'm not your babysitter, I'll be your date" he laughed. With that they walked out and headed to the Nara compound.

0000

Sakura walked in to the head Nara house after Shikamaru. She was greeted by his mother, who gave her a hug. Even though his parents didn't really understand their small family, they were at least trying too. The Nara's were known for being open and accepting of most things, including their son and his odd relationships.

"Sakura we are so glad you are here! It has been far too long." His mother said.

"Yes well you know, work and all has kept me pretty busy." Sakura responded. Yoshino grabbed her by the arm and turned to look at Shikamaru.

"Your father is out back, go see him. I need Sakura to help me with some things around the house."

Not wanting to disobey his mother he sent his girlfriend a sympathetic look before going outside to meet his father. Sakura was dragged into the kitchen and she was sat at a table with a cook book in front of her. Cooking with Yoshino was always an adventure. Usually the matriarch of the Nara clan like to plan elaborate dinners with difficult recipes. While her cooking took a long while, it was well worth it. Sakura thought Yoshino's cooking was the best in the village.

"Sakura today I want to teach you to make something special so you can cook it for Shikamaru."

"Oh and what would that be?" She questioned.

"That would be Shikamaru's favorite meal, mackerel cooked with miso, sukonbu."

Sakura's eyes grew wide. She couldn't believe that Yoshino was offering to teach her how to cook his favorite meal. Sure Sakura could cook, but sometimes she would have the habit of putting just a little bit of chakra into the dishes (without realizing) and the meal would explode all over the room. That is usually why her boys did most of the cooking, unless it was cookies of course. For some reason she could make cookies and everyone couldn't seem to get enough of them.

"If you are going to be my son's wife one day you will need to learn how to properly cook for him." Yes this is why they went to the Nara's head house every other week. Shikamaru would train or do chores with his father while Sakura was subjected to cooking lessons. Even though they had both told Yoshino they were in no hurry to get married and settle down, that didn't stop her from trying to bring it up every chance she got. _This is going to be a long morning_.

0000

Several hours later when Shikaku and Shikamaru came inside, Sakura was worn out. Cooking the meal hadn't gone that great and after several failed attempts, Yoshino just told her to study the ingredients and to watch her cook. _Maybe all women aren't supposed to be able to cook_ , she thought trying to convince herself of the reason for her failure. At least Yoshino let her set the table, now that was something she could do. Having very few cooking skills Sakura took it upon herself to learn how to properly set a table; including folding a napkin into a swan. She liked doing this here because it always make Shikamaru laugh. He knew that if there was were napkin swans over the table then that meant the cooking lesson hadn't gone so well.

All of them setting down at the table Shikamaru asked, "Is it my birthday or something? You usually don't cook this unless it is."

"Well I was introducing Sakura on how to prepare your favorite. After all it is a wife's duty to please her husband in more ways than one." Yoshino answered, making Sakura turn red.

"How did the first lesson go?" Shikaku asked.

"Not that well. I don't know if I will ever be able to cook." Sakura said sadly.

"Of course you will. The skill just comes to some later in life." Sakura smiled at Shikaku he always knew the right thing to say. After finishing their meal the men cleared the table and went to do the dishes. That was one of the best things Sakura liked about the Nara's, men and women did equal work. If the women cooked the men cleaned; and vice versa. Unlike most clan matriarchs who were there to cook and take care of the children, the Nara women had a say in clan affairs. Plus they were generally easy going and not uptight. Piss one of them off however, and you were in for a rude awakening. Hearing a knock at the door Sakura knew that was her escort showing up to take her shopping. Giving Shikamaru a quick kiss on the cheek she told him that she would see him later at home. Opening the door she found Genma smiling at her.

"Ready to go?" Nodding she took his hand and led him out of the compound.

0000

As she walked up and down the aisles, she looked at different food she thought she could at least try and make. They got generic items such as bread, fruit, chicken, rice for feeding their house _guest_. But she wanted to find something special for their last night alone as a family. Reaching the freezer section she smiled wide at finding several things of cookie dough. _I can make a cookie pie!_ Behind her, she heard Genma chuckle. She handed him several things of cookie dough to put into the basket he was carrying.

"You know with all these sweets we will have to work extra hard to get those calories off" he joked.

"Well I figured we needed something special before this mission from hell. Besides from what I recall about them we will have our work cut out for us."

"You are probably right about that." After Genma paid for their groceries they made their way to the gear shop. Sakura picked up some outfits to replace her other ones and he picked up some more weapons to replace some of his stash.

Walking home a though crossed Sakura's mind, _what if her old team still thought she was weak? What if they didn't see what she had accomplished and who she had become?_ Shaking her head to get rid of the negative thoughts she realized that they had already made it home and Genma was fishing out his key. Opening the door she move to stand beside him to remove her shoes. When she looked up she noticed two things. There were three dozen roses on the coffee table and a box full of dango. Tears in her eyes she wrapped her arms around Genma and gave him a kiss.

"We thought we would get you something for our last day alone. I know it's not much but we hope you like it."

"It's more than enough. It's perfect," she said through the tears. He wiped his thumbs over her cheeks to clean her face. Taking the items they bought and leading her into the kitchen. They found Yamato and Shikamaru waiting for them. They had already prepared dinner and were waiting on them to eat. Sitting down at the table she looked at each of her boys and silently thanked kami that she had the best family.

000000

 **Within the holding cells of T &I**

"This stinks!" Naruto whined. "We should have be released by now. We didn't do anything wrong!"

"Come on Naruto. It is just for the night. Lady Hokage said we would be let out in the morning." Kakashi said trying to reason with his student.

"I could see why you three were locked up. But me! Now that was just Tsunade being mean." Jiraiya said.

Kakashi sighed the white haired man was not helping their situation. He looked over at his other student who was being quieter than normal. Maybe he was thinking about their pinked hair teammate. They hadn't left on the best of terms. _Sakura would forgive them right?_ Then they could be a team again. Well a team with them protecting her. But they would still be a team just like the old days, Kakashi hoped.

000

Sorry for the long delay and thank you all for the wonderful comments! I wasn't sure if I was going to continue with this story but since reading all of the comments I have decided to keep going. Thank you for reading and any reviews or suggestions are welcome!


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